Floyd County Supervisors again delay action on commercial solar project moratorium

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Floyd County Board of Supervisors again held off approving a moratorium on utility-scale solar energy projects in the county as they continued to discuss the language of a proposed moratorium resolution.

All three supervisors have said they would support a moratorium, so it’s likely a matter of when one is approved rather than if.

The board also approved rates for the Sheriff’s Office to supply law enforcement coverage for the cities other than Charles City in the county, heard an update on the county’s new public service communications system and heard a request from the Charles City Area Development Corp. regarding funding support in the county’s new fiscal year 2025-26 budget that will begin July 1.

Regarding the solar energy moratorium, Supervisor Chair Dennis Keifer read the proposed resolution “to approve a temporary moratorium on the installation of utility-scale solar energy projects in the unincorporated areas of Floyd County, Iowa, to allow for the consideration of certain amendments to Floyd County’s Zoning Ordinance that would establish regular procedures for the issuance of permits for utility-scale solar energy projects in accordance with consistent standards that effectively balance the various objectives contained in Iowa Code section 333.5, including especially the protection of health and general welfare of the people of Floyd County, and the promotion of reasonable access to solar energy.”

Supervisor Gloria Carr said she liked that the resolution said the goal was to “promote reasonable access to solar energy,” but Supervisor Boyd Campbell said he was learning more and more about then potential negative aspects of commercial solar projects, including talking to supervisors from other counties at a recent conference.

“I think that there’s been a kind of a change in the wind a little bit from where we were a few years ago” regarding commercial wind and solar projects, he said. “I’m finding an awful, awful lot more opposition and reasons why.”

Campbell, who is part of a group that is meeting in private mediation to try and resolve issues with a proposed Floyd County commercial wind energy zoning proposal, said he thinks it was a “big mistake” that much of the information about wind energy came from representatives of wind energy companies.

“I don’t want to go down that road again and make that mistake” on solar energy, he said.

As she had done at the meeting last week, Carr again said the resolution was not necessary, because there is nothing in the current Floyd County ordinances that would let any company apply for a permit for a commercial solar project, but if they were going to do a resolution it should also contain a prohibition for any company applying to get a solar project through a zoning change, because that could be a possibility.

There was some disagreement on whether zoning needed to be part of the resolution, and Keifer said he would go back to the county attorney for more clarification.

Carr offered to talk with the county attorney, but Keifer said he would handle it.

Also at the meeting, the supervisors:

• Approved increasing the rate to provide law enforcement protection to the towns of Colwell, Floyd, Marble Rock, Rockford and Rudd from the current $7 per capita population in those towns, to $9 per capita, and for Nora Springs – which has a police department with one full-time officer – from $50 per hour to $65 per hour for the time spent when the Sheriff’s Office is called to respond to an incident in that community.

• Heard from Lt. Travis Bartz with the Sheriff’s Office and Jason Webster, the county emergency management coordinator, about progress on the county’s new radio communications system that will connect law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical service and other public responders.

Bartz said there were some weather and other delays, and it now looks like the system will be operating in mid to late February.

The supervisors had initially issued in August 2023 more than $5.1 million in general obligation emergency communications bonds to pay for the system, including all new radios and a 300-foot radio antenna tower near Rockford.

The supervisors granted permission to purchase video equipment to monitor the tower and equipment located there and also approved increasing the number of radios purchased.

• Heard a request from the Charles City Area Development Corp. to increase the amount the county pays to support the organization from the current $65,600 to $85,000.

CCADC CEO Tim Fox said they hadn’t received an increase since 2021, and with inflation that amount would be $81,439 now. They asked for a little more than that to allow the organization to do some more marketing.

CCADC Board President Scott Melliere said the group had increased dues for many members more than 200% and is trying to find other sources of funding.

The supervisors will consider the request as they continue work on the 2025-26 county budget.

• Appointed Marty Parcher to a three-year term on the Floyd County Board of Health, ending Dec. 31, 2027.